?ing and ironing machine.



W. H. H. TRACY. DRYING AND IRGNING MACHINE. Brummen FILED 31111516.1909. RBNEWBD JUL 23.1911.

Patented Feb. 13, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES W. H. H. TRACY.

DRYING AND IRONING MACHINE. ArrLIoATIoN PILE JUNE 1s, 1909. nmmwnn JUNE sa, 1911.

Patented Feb.13,1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

v. E N R 0 n A UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. H. TRACY, OF TROY, NEW YORK.

NG AND IRGNING MACHINE.

Specitlcation of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 13, 1912.

Application tiled .Tune 16. 199, Serial No, 502.433. Renewed June 28, 1911. Serial No. 635,895.

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that l, Winnniu ll. H. Tinicv, a citizen of the United States, residing at Troy, in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Drying and Ironing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

4TVs invention relates to a drying and ironing machine, especially designed for laundry work, and consists in the construe tion' and arrangement ot parts hereinafter more fully set 'forth and pointed out particularly in the claims. A

The object of the invention is to provide a power machine of the character described, wherein the.l arrangement is such that eollars and cuffs, after beingr washed and starched, may be quickly and perfectly drie-d and ironed during their passage t the machine, provision -being made fdr greatlyl facilitating this work, wherebyl a very great number of pieces may be dried and ironed in a eomparativelysliort space of time.

The above object isA attained by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawin s, in wliich:-f

.figure 1 is a side elevation o f-a machine embodying my invention, showing the coinbiiiation of the drying and ironin mechanism. Fig. 2, is a central longitu inal section therethrough. Fig. 3, is a front end elevation.. Fig. 4, is an enlarged frag# mentary view in section through the ho lowr shaft. of one of the drying rollers, .the gear thereon, the live steam ipe extending Y through said shaft into the interior of the chi ne.

roller, the return ipe for' the exhaust steam, and tli'e'iheans4 or making a steam tight ,joint between the exhaust steam pipe and the end of said shaft. Fig. 5, is a central longitudinal vsection through one of the large drying rollers. F' 6, is ancularged transverse section throng one ofthe belts.

Referring to the characters of reference, 1 designates the frame in which are journaled the shafts of the rollers over which pass the endless belts between the contiguous facesofwhieli the' nrticlestobc dried and ironsd are conveyed 'throiighdrheA niarespective shafts 6, 7, f8 and 9. Said rollers are -in the form of hollow cylinders and are connected together'and driven in pairs irouvli 'The Amain drying rollers l comprise the rollers 2,' 3, 4 and 5 vii'i'o'initedupon 'their unison. und at tlie saine rate of speed.

through the medium of the meshing gears upon the shafts thereof. A traveling conveyer is adapted to pass around said rollers,

comprising an upper endless belt 17 and a lower endless belt 18. Said belts travel t0- gether in close contigiiity while passing over the main rollers, but at` the idle roller 19 in:

the rear of the inain rollers, said belts are separated. the upper belt passing around said roller and upwardly over the` idle roller` 20. l'lie'i rtically movable roller 21 and the adjiistab e idle roller QQ, :ind thence downwardly around the idle roller 23, where it again joins the lower belt in passing over the second of the feed rollers 2l from which point'said belts travel together onto the first roller 2 of the main rolleis. The lower belt- 18 after passingr undenthe idle roller .19 continues horizontally between the discharge rollers 25 and 26 around the latter of which it, passes and returns to the forward end of the machine over the idle roller 27, the vertically movable roller 2B, the idle roller 29, and the adjustable idle roller 30. From the roller 3() the ,lower beltpasses upwardly around the first of the feed rollers 31 and thence horizontally over the second feed roller $34 where it joins the upper belt from which point said belts n'iove through the niachine together. It will be noted tliatthe vertically movable roller 21 around which the up er belt passes is interposed between the idle rollers Q0 and 22 below the plane thereof so that the belt extends downivardly from said rollers and around the roller 21. lnV the opposite sides of the frame are formed vertical slots 32 in which the. ends of the shaft 33 of the roller 21-lie. By this arrangeinei'it. thel roller 2)( beco'mes suspended by the belt 17, sa'id roller being of siicli weight as to maintain the desired tension ii on said belt. In like 'manner the lower bet 18 is' kept taut by y:io

the rollers, a relativelylargefpipe 45 commolmted in adjustable bearin 'straight portion o the vertically movablep roller 28 which is suspended b said beltl between the rollers 27 and 29, t e shaft 34 of the roller 28 .bein guided in the vertical slots in the si es of the frame.

4 The shafts of the rollers 22 and 30 are blocks 36 at the opposite ends thereof a apted to be mgved by the ad'usting screws 37, wherebyl the o posite en s of said rollers may be shift as required to lceuse the belts passing thereover to run, truly.

The articles to ber dried, comprising collars, and culs are placed u on the straight ortion 38 of the lower be t which extends tween the rollers 24 and 31, and serves as a table. When laced upon said table or lsaid belt, said articles, bg the travel o f the belt are carried between t e meeting faces of the lower and upper beltsas said beltsl -come together in passing over the roller 24 whereby said articles are retained in place between said belts and are carried around the main rollers by the travel of lbelts beingliberated finally after paginghuder the idlef roller 19, at which uit e upper belt leaves the lower belt passing A'ai'iziu'nd said roller, while the lower l'belt continues around theroller 26.

B this arran lnt Athe .articles which are le upon the ower heitere-,caused to pass between the rollers 25 and 26 and are dischar ed onto the table v39 over which they trave to the ironing rollers 40 and 41 between which said articles pass and from which they are discharged into any suitable receptacle.

In order that the rollers over which the conveger belts travel shall be suiiiciently heute to evaporate the moisture from the articles between said belts, it ispreferred to admit live steam to the interior of said rollers through the main supply pipe 42 which-"is connected with any suitable source of steam supply and from which extend the vvertical pipes 43; Extending horizontally from' the vertical pipes are the branch pipes 44 which lead into the vinterior of said rollers, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. To allow for the escape of the exhaust steam from municates with the interior o each of said rollers through the hollow journal thereof, as clearly shown in Fig. 4 said ipe lying loosel within said 'ournal and embrace b a ring o packin 46, which is confined tween the end of 'e journal and an embracing collar 47 which serves as a Agland. The collar 47 .is held forcibly against the packing 46 to make a tight joint by means of a strong spring 48 which at one end bears against a washer 49 lyin against said collar, and at the other en against a washer 50 llingagainst the h ub o the elbow lil-on e outer end of the i stead of heatin pipe 4-5. By this ari` i ement, the journal of the roller is perm'c to revolve, and at the Sametime a ste-:im ti ht joint is main tained between the end of said journal and the pipe 45. The branch pipe 44 passes centrally, throughlthe pipe 45 and enters the elbow 5l through a stuiling box 52. Communicating with the elbow 51 is a ver- 'tical exhaust pipe 53 which at its lower end connects with the main exhaust pipe 54. It will be noted that the vertical steam pipes and the vertical exhaust pipes each conncct'with two of the steam heated rollers, excc ting the two pipes at the extreme front of t e machine, and that the exhaust pipes which lead from the lower rollers of each pair, are provided with a T-coiipling 55 instead of the elbow 51 which is employed" at the upper roller. To enable the temperature of the steam heated rollers to be regulated, the vertical steam supply pipes are provided with suitable valves 56.

For the purpose of maintaining the requisite pressure upon the conveyer belts during, their travel between the rollers 3 and 5 to prevent a possible shifting of the articles etween said belts, an idle roller 57 is emplyed which bears against said belts with su cientforce to hold them firmly together ppon the articles between their contiguous aces. f r

To impart ovement to the rollers 25 and 26, a sprocke wheel 58 is mounted upon the shaft of the roller 5 from which leads a sprocket chain 59 that passes over a s rocket wheel 60 upon the shaft of the ro ler 25. Also mounted on the shaft of said roller is a gear wheel 61 which meshes with a like ear 62 on the shaft of the roller 26, whereythe rollers-25 and 26 are caused to revolve in unison at the same rate of speed.` On the shaft of the roller 25 is a second sprocket wheel 63 which is connected by a c ain 64 with a sprocket wheel 65 on the shaft of the roller 40. Also mounted on the shaft of the roller 40 is a gear wheel 66 which meshes with a like gear wheel 67 on the shaft of the rollei 51, whereby the rollers 40 and 41 are driven in unison from the shaft of the roller 25.

.In addition to heating the main rollers, steam is also a plied to and exhausted from the second of the feed rollers 24 over which the conveyor belts'rst pass, and also to and from the discharge and ironing rollers at the rear of the machine. By controlling the iowof steam to said rollers through the medium of the valves 56 in the steam 'supply pipes, the temperature of said rollers ma e regulated so that the desired degree of eat may be maintained in any of the rollers in the machine at all times. In-

the rollers by steam, they may be heated y gas, electricity, or in any other suitable manner.

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